New Century Financial Group LLC Purchases 781 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

New Century Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 33.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,094 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 781 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $333,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 11,471.4% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $781,500,000 after acquiring an additional 6,719,398 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the third quarter valued at $2,537,000. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the third quarter worth about $166,263,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 155.1% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,873,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $201,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138,979 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 13,829.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,125,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $129,782,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117,526 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

DUK opened at $109.86 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $84.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.49. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $110.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $112.15. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $90.09 and a 1 year high of $121.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. Duke Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.94 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 76.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. KeyCorp cut Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho upgraded Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.23.

Duke Energy Company Profile

Duke Energy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy company in the United States. It operates through two segments: Electric Utilities and Infrastructure (EU&I), and Gas Utilities and Infrastructure (GU&I). The EU&I segment generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electricity in the Carolinas, Florida, and the Midwest.